


The Sparring Session

by BirukiMeraki



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Camp Half Blood, Confident Nico di Angelo, Drabbles, F/M, Humor, Nico di Angelo - Freeform, OC, One Shot, Short One Shot, Short Story, chb, fan fiction, nicoxoc, percy jackson - Freeform, zara - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-04-17 21:52:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4682729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirukiMeraki/pseuds/BirukiMeraki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The new kid was supposed to have a private sparring session when it suddenly turned into an intense one-on-one session. Then it turned into something a little more.<br/>Nico x OC</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sparring Session

Zara lunged and parried, parried and lunged, occasionally using her inherited Poseidon skills to throw water from the lake in the direction of her adversary. However, seeing as that was Percy, he easily deflected the water and barreled forwards at her direction in the moment of brief vulnerability. Eyes wide, she threw herself to the side in the nick of time, knocking the breath out of her as she hit the ground hard.   
  
        "Good spar, sister," Percy panted, bending down with an arm outstretched to help her up. "Next time, though, try not to land on the ground; it puts you at a disadvantage." He pulled her up to her feet.  
  
        "Big word," she teased, grinning at him as she dusted herself off and tried to regain her breath.  
  
        "Thanks; my girlfriend taught it to me," he grinned back at her in sibling camaraderie. He recapped Riptide and she sheathed her blade. At that moment, they both turned their heads to the Big House in unison, where someone was calling his name. "Try practising on your own for the moment; I'll be back in a bit," Percy threw over his shoulder as he quickly jogged away from her.  
  
        She sat down with a thump, panting hard as she wiped the sweat from her brow and raised her face to they sky, enjoying the slight breeze washing over her hot face. Then, she took a long gulp of water from the bottle she brought with her, enjoying the coolness of it hitting the back of her throat. After she had regained her breath, she stood back up and faced the training dummy. She drew out her sword and released a long, slow breath.  
  
        With a yell, she charged at the straw dummy, raising her sword high over her head. She slashed at it, imagining it as a monster charging at her as well. She hacked at the neck, imagining it was an empusa trying to kill her, or maybe a gorgon. Or maybe even a Minotaur, like the one Percy killed long ago. She imagined hacking its head off. She imagined-  
  
        "So you're the new Poseidon kid," a voice called out, breaking her concentration, shattering it into a million shards. It caused her to pause abruptly, blink profusely and gaze around in confusion. She saw a figure emerge literally from the dark shadows of the trees and walk over to her. She recognised the son of Hades. She doesn't know him that well since he doesn't seem to be in camp much. "You fight like him, you know," he commented. "Recklessly."  
  
        She swallowed a heated retort, deciding to just study him through narrowed eyes.  
  
        He just gave her a dark smirk. "Instead of fighting a useless, inert dummy, why don't you fight with something more interesting?"  
  
        "What, you?" came her immediate response. He said nothing and her confidence wavered, just the slightest. "If not you, then what do you suggest that be?" For all her pomp, she actually would prefer if she not start fighting any monsters yet, seeing as Percy just started teaching her a few days ago. Any monster-fighting would definitely end in death, just not for the monster.  
  
        His lips curved even more, to the point that his teeth showed, just a tiny bit. A sliver of ivory against pale pink. He circled her slowly, never keeping his gaze off of her. She, in turn, turned her body, bit by bit, so that she was always facing him head-on. It was like an ancient dance they both knew the tune to. Eyes still locked on hers, he casually slipped out of his leather jacket, revealing lean, sinewy arms in a black singlet; the paleness of his skin contrasted sharply with the deep darkness of the ribbed material. "You will be fighting me," he said simply, drawing a black-as-night blade from its scabbard hung on his right side. He faced her in an open stance.  
  
        The confusion she felt was only momentary, being physically and mentally unable to turn away and ignore such a blatant challenge. Internally shaking herself alert, she gave him a smirk of her own as she opened her stance like Percy taught her, sword straight out in both hands, the tip pointing straight at him. She took several deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth. She could see and feel his eyes roaming her body, observing the way she breathed. He closed his eyes and breathed in gently, until their breathing was in tune with each other.   
  
        They both remained motionless for a while, each silently studying the other. A child of Athena once told her that the first to make a move generally is the loser, unless if they're highly skilled, which she's sure he is; having fought in the war with her brother. So that leaves only one other option, she must make him act recklessly. "Lost your nerve?" she taunted, raising her eyebrows minutely with a mocking grin.  
  
        "Not at all," he shrugged, cool as ever. "Why, have you?"  
  
        A surge of annoyance washed over her, engulfing her like a tidal wave. Ignoring all pretence of rationale, she let out a battle cry as she rushed towards him; wanting more than ever to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. He deflected it easily and while she is in that position, lunged forward into her swinging arc. She instantly bent over backwards in an awkward angle, like a marionette with their strings cut. She felt the sharp tip of the blade scarcely avoiding her neck, missing the tender skin by just the smallest of fractions. In that moment, time stretched out and in slow motion, she whipped her head to the side, tucked it in and jumped away from his sword reach. Immediately, she sprang up, her sword held out again before her as she returned to her stance.  
  
        "Very good," Nico crooned softly. "At least we know that Percy's taught you well," he said as he lunged at her again.  
  
        "No, that one was on me!" She quickly twisted aside and around him. When she faced him again, her messy ponytail was no more, her obsidian hair tumbling around her shoulders in waves. She frowned at her hair in confusion. She has, on occasion, broken a few hair ties before but not this kind.  
  
        "I think I need this more than you do," she heard him call out. She whipped her head to face him, only to see him holding out her hair tie with the tips of his fingers for a moment before putting his own hair into a better ponytail than she can ever manage. When he was done with his task, he gave a chuckle, "Do you need to tie your hair?"  
  
        Incensed, she gave another cry as she charged at him again, this time throwing a stream of water to meet him. He dodged the stream of water and shot shadows at her face. The complete darkness, though mercifully brief, disoriented her and nearly sent her into a panic attack, thinking she had gone blind.  
  
        When her vision began to return, she shook her head erratically. She saw him about ten feet away from her. "Had enough?"  
  
        "That was a low blow," she growled.  
  
        "Bella, you have no idea what a low blow is," he purred, beaming innocently. This time, he made the first move and charged first.  
  
        Caught off guard, she instinctively dodged and threw herself aside, narrowly avoiding the worst of the blow. Unfortunately, that put her flat on the ground again, breath slightly knocked out of her. Realising her mistake, she quickly sprang on to her feet, just in time to block another blow. By the third blow, she was anticipating it, managing to parry it and knock the blade aside. Now they were side by side, close enough that they can hear their own loud breathing. His dark eyes met hers for a brief moment, and she held it; their depth and emotion shocking her. Blinking, she sprang backwards and raised her sword high for the killing blow.  
  
        As it came down, he quickly put his blade up in a defensive position above his face and tried to come to a stand. The sound of their blades crashing echoed in the clearing around them. As the proverbial dust settled around them, they found that their swords are locked at the hilt and their faces were impossibly close to each other, their breaths mingling. Nico was bent forward a little, being several inches taller than she was.  
  
        "Molto bene, bella," he panted, eyes wide in almost surprise.  
  
        "You're surprised?" she returned with a small, satisfied grin. She felt confident that she had won the match.  
  
        What she didn't expect was his lips on hers, cool and smooth, despite the heat. What she didn't expect was to taste him on her tongue, the taste of...burgers and cola? What she didn't expect was the feel of his flushed skin against hers. Her eyes widened and for a brief moment, her brain seeming to have gone eerily silent, as though every thought she would have had had been deserted, chased out by that one sensation so that the only thing that registered in her mind is that sensation; that one feeling of his lips on hers.  
  
        As quickly as it happened, it ended. His face withdrew and wasn't so impossibly close anymore, though it was still relatively close enough for her to be able to count his eyelashes. "Are you?" he countered softly and suddenly she had no idea if he was talking about their sparring or his kiss. Suddenly, he unlocked their swords, turned around and walked away from her. The suddenness of his departure made her shiver slightly.  
  
        He sheathed his sword and threw his jacket over his shoulder. "Ciao, bella," he called over his shoulder, grinning madly before melting into the shadows of the trees, leaving her messy-haired and blinking stupidly at the place he just was, not at all sure who won that match.  
  
        From behind, she heard someone jogging towards her. "So," Percy called out, "how was your sparring session?"


End file.
